I Disappear
by 88Keys
Summary: People are disappearing...and Lucas is the only one who remembers them. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes: Just a nice, normal fic, much like a Strange Days ep. Could be set in any season.

The idea for this story was totally taken from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, so apologies if it seems familiar. It just struck me one day how well the idea fit into the BHH universe, and I had to give it a shot.

Disclaimer: Strange Days at Blake Holsey was created by Jim Rapsas and is the property of the now-defunct Fireworks Entertainment, Discovery Kids, NBC, and probably a lot of other people who could sue me. Please don't.

I Disappear

by 88Keys

Finished 1/31/05

Lucas tightened the last screw on the device and grinned triumphantly. It was finished. Finally, after weeks of planning and calculations, hours or research and lost sleep, it was finally done.

Ever since their first few unanticipated encounters with the wormhole, he had been trying to think of a way to make it open on command. The wormhole was obviously a very powerful tool, but it was unpredictable and uncontrollable. Hopefully, his invention would change that. All it needed now was a name.

"Wormhole," he mumbled. "No, vortex. Vortex…manipulator? Manager? No, it's not a document organizer. Control? Vortex control…not bad. Vortex opener…open…open…that's it." Lucas added the name to his notes, then sat back and stared at his invention with a mixture of pride and apprehension. Would this really work?

There was only one way to find out.

"Emergency Science Club meeting this afternoon," he explained breathlessly to his friends at the lunch table.

"Emergency? What's wrong?" Corinne asked, looked at him with concern.

Lucas shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. I just have something to show you guys. Something important."

"Is this that thing you've been working on until 2am every night for the past week?" Marshall asked grumpily. Lucas wasn't the only one who had lost sleep lately.

Lucas nodded. "I can't talk about it here. I need to test it out, and I want you guys to be there."

The bell rang then, and the students picked up their books and headed for the door. "We'll be there," Josie promised.

-

"So what is this "thing" he wants to show us, Marshall?" Corrine asked. She, Josie, Marshall, Vaughn, and Professor Zachary were gathered in the science lab, waiting for the fifth member of the club to arrive.

Marshall shrugged. "Some kind of device to help us control the wormhole. He wouldn't give me the specifics."

"You'd think if he was so excited about it, he would at least be on time to the meeting he called," Josie grumbled, glancing at the clock.

At that same moment, Lucas was carefully making his way down the stairs with his invention. He had it covered with a cloth so that no one could see it, but he knew he still looked strange carrying the bundle down the hall. There was really no other way to get it to the science lab, though. Kids shot confused glances at him as he walked down the hall, but he was used to that.

He was almost to the science room door when something large and very, very solid collided with him. He made a desperate fumble and managed to keep the device and himself from falling to the tile floor.

Lucas looked up into the leering face of the large mass and groaned. Stu Kubiak always managed to show up at the worst times.

Stu looked down at Lucas and grinned. "What do we have here? Late for another Geek Club meeting, Science Boy?"

Lucas sighed in annoyance. "Actually, yes, I am. If you can just let me pass-"

"Not so fast," Stu said. "What's under the blanket?" He reached out and lifted a corner of the cloth.

"Just a science project," Lucas answered, jerked the device away from Stu. He resisted the urge to add "too complicated for you to understand" to his answer.

Fortunately, Stu's attention span was short. He leaned down and looked Lucas directly in the eyes. "Watch where you're going next time." He chuckled as he shoved past Lucas and continued down the hall.

"I wish he would just disappear," Lucas mumbled as he finally entered the science lab and shut the door behind him.

"It's about time," Josie said, motioning to the clock.

"I know, I know," Lucas said. "But trust me, this will be worth it."

"So what exactly is this device you've been working on, Lucas?" Professor Zachary asked.

Lucas sat the bundle on a lab table and pulled off the cloth. The others stared, first with curiosity, then in disbelief.

"That's what you've been working on for the past month?" Marshall asked.

"That's what you called us in here to see?" Josie said incredulously.

"That's what I left baseball practice early for?" Vaughn asked.

The device that sat in front of them was roughly the size of a football. It looked like a circuit board mounted to a piece of wood, with wires and buttons and lights attached randomly across it.

"Guys! I know it may not look like much. But Open Sesame is going to change everything."

"Open Sesame?" The name was met with a chorus of snickers.

"Why don't you explain, um, Open Sesame to us, Lucas?" Professor Zachary requested, trying to be diplomatic.

Lucas looked seriously at the group. "Up until now, we've encountered the wormhole randomly. It has appeared three times in Professor Z's office and once outside. We don't know when it's going to open or where it will take us."

"I've focused on the wormhole in Z's office. By studying the conditions in the office, especially at the time the wormhole opened, and reading up on what causes wormholes in the first place, I've designed this device. If it works correctly, it should trigger enough of a disturbance that the wormhole will open."

For several moments, five sets of eyes looked at him blankly. Then the questions began.

"Where did you find the stuff to build this?"

"Lucas, are you feeling all right?"

"How do you know it will open the wormhole?"

"Can you specify where the wormhole will transport us to?"

"What if it doesn't work?"

Lucas took a deep breath. "I found some of the stuff around the school, and I got some of it online. I feel fine, and I DON'T know that it will open the wormhole for sure. That's why I called you all here, so we can test it. No, I don't know where the other end of the wormhole will be. I can't control that. And if it doesn't work, either nothing will happen, or…" Lucas looked around guiltily.

"What?" Marshall prompted him.

"There's a small chance that it will blow the whole room sky-high. But according to my calculations, the risk of that is very slight; like less than 2."

The other members of the Science Club exchanged glances. "Well, we haven't had a good explosion in a while," Vaughn said, shrugging his shoulders.

Lucas frowned. "This is going to work. I wanted you all here to see it."

"OK, Lucas," Professor Zachary said reassuringly. "Let's give it a shot."

-

The five Science Club members and their professor filed into his slightly cramped office. Lucas set the device on the floor and fiddled with the buttons and knobs.

"I'm setting it to certain specifications. It should produce a burst of energy that will disrupt the surrounding atmosphere enough to open up the wormhole for a few seconds."

The others looked at each other uneasily. "Lucas, maybe you should research this a little more," Josie said.

"I've researched it for weeks now. I've gone over my calculations again and again. They're right."

"But do we even want to-" Josie stopped at seeing the hurt expression on Lucas's face. She sighed. "Never mind."

Lucas finished entering in the specifications and turned to the group. "OK, it's ready." He noticed everyone was pushed back against the wall, as far away from the device as possible. "Open Sesame, version 1.0, test one. Cross your fingers."

He pushed the largest button on the machine.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the device began to sputter. Sparks flew off of it. The Science Club members covered their eyes and heads. The device popped and sparked angrily a few more times, then finally fell silent.

Lucas stared dejectedly at the smoking heap of metal before him. The other club members gathered behind him, trying to be supportive.

"I don't understand it," Lucas mumbled. Corrine placed a hand on his shoulder supportively.

"You probably just miscalculated somewhere," she said.

"It was an ambitious effort," Professor Zachary agreed. "I'm sure you'll get it right eventually."

From behind him, Lucas heard what sounded like a muffled snicker. Then another one.

"Look on the bright side, Lucas," Vaughn said cheerfully. "You produced a great fireworks display!"

The muffled snickers turned into full-blown laughter from every member of the group. "Yeah," Josie gasped. "The Fourth of July isn't for four more months!"

Lucas glared at them. "Glad I could amuse you all." He turned sharply and began gathering up the scorched equipment.

"Come on, guys, let's go before supper is over," Josie said. All except Marshall followed her. Z shot Lucas a sympathetic glance over his shoulder before he went out the door.

"I'll help you carry it back upstairs," Marshall offered. He had managed to squelch his laughter for the moment.

"Forget it," Lucas mumbled. He set the device down on a table in the back of the room. "I'll just get it later." He walked quickly past a confused Marshall and out the door.

"Lucas, wait!" But Lucas ignored him.

"Sometimes," he muttered to himself, "I wish they would ALL just disappear."

-

Lucas still felt grumpy when he woke up the next morning. The memory of his friends' laughter was still fresh in his mind. He knew that sometimes his ideas and experiments did go off course, but he wished they would understand how much work he had put into this project. He thought about skipping breakfast entirely, but Marshall reminded him it was french toast day.

"Morning," he mumbled as he slid into a chair next to Josie. He stayed silent as his friends talked about the upcoming day. Thankfully, no one brought up the meeting the day before.

During his first period science class, Lucas was surprised to see Stu Kubiak was absent. "Maybe this day won't be so bad after all," he whispered to Marshall. "Stu's not here."

"Who?" Marshall asked.

"Stu Kubiak."

Marshall just looked at him blankly.

"Kubiak. You know, played football without a helmet too many times? Throws dodgeballs 80 miles an hour?"

Marshall nodded, looking confused. "Sure, Lucas," he said, not sounding sure at all.

-

Second period gym class passed without incident, mainly because of Stu's absence. Lucas noted that a few other kids were gone. "_Maybe there was a field trip or something today."_ Although it shouldn't have been a big deal, Lucas felt vaguely uneasy as he went through the motions of Coach Kennedy's calisthenics program.

By third period, Lucas counted at least eight people who were gone. The class only had twenty people to begin with. The strangest thing was how none of the other students or teachers commented on it.

"Where is everybody?" Lucas asked Corrine.

"What do you mean?"

"One, two, three...there's like eight people absent today. Was there some field trip or special project going on today that I didn't know about?"

Corrine looked around the room. "I don't see anyone missing."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "You don't? How can you not? Half the seats in here are empty."

Corrine shrugged. "They've always been that way."

Lucas looked around. "Stu. Stu Kubiak. I haven't seen him since yesterday." He motioned to the desk behind him. "Or Katie. She always shares her notes with me if I miss anything."

Corinne shook her head. "Lucas...I don't know anyone name Stu. Or Katie."

Lucas swallowed hard. He had brushed it off when Marshall said the same thing earlier, but it was too much to ignore now. Besides, Corrine didn't joke around as much as his other friends. And she looked sincere now.

Lucas raised his hand as their English teacher stepped in front of the room. "Mrs. O'Neil?"

"Yes, Lucas?"

"Do you know why so many people are absent today?"

The teacher looked around. "I don't see anyone absent. Are we missing someone?"

Lucas looked down, discouraged. He could hear giggles from his classmates around him.

"Never mind."

There was nothing he could do but sit there, trying to concentrate on the lecture about Charles Dickens. Lucas knew he would not remember a word of it tomorrow. He was too preoccupied trying to figure out what was going on.

_Why am I the only one who remembers these people?_

Finally, the bell rang. As everyone stood up to go, Lucas scanned the room. He gasped.

Four more people were gone. He knew they had been there at the beginning of class. He had carefully counted twelve people. Only eight were leaving the room now.


	2. Chapter 2

"Professor Zachary, something is wrong," Lucas almost shouted as he burst into Z's office. He knew the science teacher had a free period before lunch. Lucas was skipping Physics to speak to him now, but he didn't care. He couldn't just sit there and watch people disappear any longer. _Besides, everyone else is missing class today._

Professor Zachary stood and adjusted his glasses. "What is it, Lucas?"

"People are disappearing. I've counted at least twelve students that haven't been in class today. I haven't seen them anywhere." He rattled off the names of the students he knew were gone. "And what's worse is no one seems to remember them or notice that they're gone except me."

Professor Z tilted his head to one side and studied Lucas's anxious expression.

Lucas sighed. "You don't remember any of them either, do you?"

Professor Zachary shook his head. "No, Lucas, I don't."

Lucas sank weakly into the nearest chair and put his head in his hands. "You think I'm making this up, don't you."

Professor Zachary pulled his chair up next to Lucas and looked at him with concern. "I know sometimes you...see things, or think you see things...things that other people don't see..."

"Like the wooly mammoth in the pool," Lucas finished bitterly.

Professor Zachary looked to the side. "Well, there is that."

"Z, I'm not making this up. I didn't just imagine a dozen people with separate personalities. I'm not a liar."

The teacher nodded. "I know you're not, Lucas." He stood and regarded his pupil thoughtfully. "If you say something is going on, then I believe you. Why don't you gather the rest of the Science Club for a meeting during lunch? They haven't...disappeared, right?"

Lucas shook his head. "Not yet."

"Good." He patted Lucas on the shoulder comfortingly. "We'll get to the bottom of this, just like we always do."

-

Lucas somehow managed to sit through the rest of his Physics class, though his mind wasn't on the lesson. Z's words had not comforted him. It had not occurred to him before then that his friends might disappear, too. He had to admit, it wasn't so bad not having Stu around. But if Corrine or Josie or Marshall disappeared, what would he do? _How would I get them back? _

He wasn't surprised to see half the Physics class was gone. He kept looking around, trying to catch the moment when a classmate disappeared, but he never saw anything. Yet, by the end of class, three people that had been there before were gone.

_Where did they go? People just don't vanish! Well, anywhere but Black Hole High, people don't just vanish._ It was true he had seen people go into the wormhole and disappear. But that was always accompanied by swirling lights and a lot of wind. If the wormhole were sucking people away in the middle of class, surely he (and everyone else) would've noticed.

And Marshall had become invisible once. Maybe his classmates were losing their ability to reflect light. But that didn't explain why no one else remembered them.

With a sinking feeling, Lucas made his way down the hall to the cafeteria. Stepping inside, he paused, momentarily stunned.

At least half of the student body was gone. The cafeteria was usually jammed full at this time. Now, less than half of the tables were full. _It's getting worse._

Lucas felt relieved when he saw Marshall wave him over to their table. Corrine, Josie, Marshall, and Vaughn were all accounted for. For now.

"Guys, we're having another Science Club meeting. Now." He grabbed his friends' lunch trays and dumped the contents of each into the trash can. "Come on."

"Hey! I wasn't finished with that!" Marshall complained.

"Lucas, are you crazy? Besides, we just had a meeting last night," Josie said.

Lucas sighed and looked at each person seriously. "I don't know. I may be crazy. But something is wrong, very wrong. People are disappearing. I'm the only one who remembers them. And I'm afraid you guys may be next."

The other club members looked at each other. They knew when Lucas had an idea in his head, he wouldn't let it go easily. "All right," Josie sighed, speaking for the whole group. "Let's go to Z's office." They filed out of the cafeteria, Marshall looking longingly at a classmate's lunch as he passed.

-

"OK, Lucas," Professor Zachary said. The Science Club was once again gathered inside his office, albeit reluctantly. "You have the floor. Tell us exactly what happened."

Lucas leaned against Z's desk and thought back over the events of the morning. "I guess it started when I noticed that Stu Kubiak was absent in first period. I mentioned it to Marshall, and he didn't know who I was talking about."

"Who's Stu Kubiak?" Vaughn asked. The others looked confused as well.

"Exactly," Lucas sighed. "Each class, I've noticed more and more people gone. I told you their names, Z, and you didn't recognize them either." He passed a piece of paper over to his friends. "I wrote down all the names of the students I know are gone. There may be more. Tell me if you recognize any of them."

Each member read through the list, then looked up at Lucas and shook their head. "I've never heard of these people," Corrine added. The others all nodded.

Lucas took the paper back and studied it thoughtfully. "I didn't just imagine all these people!"

"No one is saying that you did," Professor Zachary said quickly.

"Can you show us some proof that these people existed and went to school here?" Corrine asked.

Lucas thought for a moment. "The yearbook!" He grabbed last year's copy from Professor Z's bookshelf. The others gathered around as he flipped through the pages once, then twice.

"I don't believe it," he said softly. There were no pictures of Stu, Katie, or any of the others. Stu was not listed among the ranks of the football team. There was no mention of any of the students on Lucas's list. It was as if the student body had been reduced by half.

"They're not in there, are they?" Corrine asked gently. Lucas just shook his head, unable to hide his disappointment.

Z walked over and stood directly in front of Lucas. "Let's think back a little farther. Did anything…unusual happen last night? Or yesterday?"

Lucas frowned. "Well, there was the Science Club meeting last night. You all remember how that went."

"Right," Vaughn said. "You tried to use that device to open the wormhole, and it blew up. Sorry," he added quickly as Lucas glared at him.

"Is that what this is about, Lucas?" Josie asked. "You're mad about what happened, or _didn't _happen, yesterday?"

Lucas looked hurt. "Yeah, Josie, that's it," he said sarcastically. "I invented 100 people to get back at you guys for laughing at me." He held up his hands. "You got me!"

"No one is suggesting that, Lucas," Professor Z said quickly, noting the tension in the room.

"Yes they are. People are disappearing and I'm trying to stop it and my own friends don't believe me." Lucas's voice rose steadily in pitch and his face became flushed with frustration.

"I believe you," Vaughn said quietly.

The Science Club members all turned in surprise at this voice behind them. No one was more surprised than Lucas.

"You do?" he asked.

Vaughn shrugged. "Well, with all the strange things that have happened here, we shouldn't be that surprised. I don't know if people are really disappearing or not, but if Lucas says something isn't right, we should check it out."

Lucas was momentarily taken aback. "Thanks, Vaughn," he finally managed to say.

The other members looked at each other and nodded. "OK, so what do we do now?" Marshall asked.

The bell rang at that point, startling them all.

"At this point, you go to class," Professor Z said kindly but firmly. He held up his hand to silence Lucas's protest before it began. "I'm sorry, but you have obligations to your classes. Everybody keep your eyes open and brainstorm, and report to me immediately if anything else happens."

Lucas followed his friends out the door dejectedly, knowing there was no point in arguing with Z when he was in "teacher mode." In the hall, Marshall placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You're not going to class, are you?"

Lucas shook his head.

"All right," Marshall agreed. "So, where do we start snooping?

-

By afternoon's end, Lucas and Marshall had searched every square inch of the school and its grounds looking for strange anomalies or missing students. They had found neither. Lucas insisted that they stick together, so it was nearly dark before they finished the search.

They had discovered that the rooms previously inhabited by the missing students were now completely empty. No clothes, books, personal effects; nothing to indicate anyone had every lived there.

"Nothing," Lucas groaned as he collapsed into a chair in the lounge. "I don't understand it."

"Yeah, it's weird," Marshall agreed.

Something about his response sounded half-hearted to Lucas. He stared critically at his best friend. "You don't believe me, do you?"

Marshall shrugged. "It's not that, I just… don't remember any of these people. You're the only one who does. It makes me think maybe…something is wrong…you know, with you, not us."

He expected an angry response, but instead Lucas sighed and leaned back heavily against the couch. "Maybe there is something wrong with me," he said. "Maybe I'm going crazy."

Marshall stood. "Well, I know I'm going to go crazy if I don't get something to eat soon. My lunch was interrupted, you know. Let's get some supper before we do anything else." He led a dejected Lucas down the hall to the cafeteria.

If Lucas had been surprised by what he saw in the cafeteria at lunchtime, he was completely horrified now. He stood in the doorway for a full minute, frozen with shock.

Josie and Corrine sat at a table waiting for them. They looked up and nodded as Marshall and Lucas entered the room.

There was no one else there.

"Lucas?" Corrine asked. "Is something wrong?"

Lucas just stared at his three friends, apparently now the only three people enrolled in Blake Holsey High besides himself. "Wrong?" He crossed the room in quick strides and stared down at the table. "Yeah, I'd say something is definitely wrong!"

"What?" Josie asked impatiently. "Are you still worried that people are disappearing?"

Lucas blinked a few times and shook his head, trying to compose himself. It suddenly dawned on him that none of his friends saw anything unusual about this situation. A giggle rose up in his throat, then another and another, until he was having a fit of full-blown hysterical laughter. Marshall, Josie, and Corrine exchanged worried glances.

"This," Lucas gasped when he managed to catch his breath, "this all makes sense to you, doesn't it?"

"WHAT makes sense, Lucas? If you're talking about the way you're acting today, then I'd say that's definitely a no," Josie said.

"This whole situation! You, me, Corrine, and Marshall. The only students in this huge school. No principal, no lunch lady, no teachers! Nothing about this seems remotely strange to you, does it!"

"We've never needed teachers before," Marshall said, shrugging.

"No teachers," Lucas repeated softly. "You mean…Professor Z…"

"We don't have Professors, Lucas," Josie said.

Lucas looked around the room. He knew a search of the school would be futile; Z was gone and no one remembered him. He was still reeling from the shock when another thought hit him.

"Where's Vaughn?"

"Vaughn?" Josie asked.

"Vaughn. Vaughn Pearson. Captain of the football team, has his own room, his father is quite possibly a mad scientist." He looked Josie directly in the eyes. "You've had a crush on him for months. How could you just forget him like that?"

"Arrrgh, that's IT! You've been doing this all day, Lucas. We tried to go along with it, but you can't just keep making people up! Game over, OK!" Josie stood abruptly and turned to Corrine. "I'm going to the bathroom. Wanna come with?"

"Sure," Corrine said, glancing apologetically at Lucas.

"Josie!" Lucas said. "Please, please don't go. You won't come back."

"That's ridiculous, Lucas. I don't even know what to say to you anymore." She turned on her heal and marched towards the door, dragging Corrine with her.

"Wait!" But she was already out of the door.

Lucas wanted to run after her, but he knew it was futile. Josie was gone, or would be in a few moments. He couldn't save her. Why hadn't he told her how important she was to him before?

Marshall was sitting at the table, looking at Lucas expectantly. "Well? You going to eat or not?"

Lucas just stared at him. "It's just you and me now, isn't it?"

Marshall nodded, looking confused. "Of course. Who else would be here?"

Lucas sat down wearily, elbows on the table head in his hands. "You'll be gone soon too, Marshall," he said, more to himself than to his friend. "Maybe if I stick with you, I can catch the exact moment you disappear, and figure out where you go…Marshall?"

He raised his head, but saw no one there.

Lucas's mouth was suddenly dry. "Marshall?"

He looked around. There was no one.

He was completely alone.


	3. Chapter 3

The school suddenly seemed enormous, and quieter than Lucas ever imagined possible. The silence was loud and hurt his ears. Lucas swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. Part of him wanted to run up to his room and hide under the covers like a frightened child. _From what?_ Nothing had suddenly become terrifying.

Another part wanted to run around the whole school in a panic, yelling for someone to come find him. But he knew it would be fruitless. There was nothing to do now but sit and wait until he went…where? _Wherever everyone else went, I guess._

"No," Lucas said, his voice shattering the silence of the school. "I won't just give up." Hearing his voice aloud was somehow creepy and comforting at the same time. He knew that after too much time alone, human beings would go insane. Maybe talking to himself would keep him sane a little longer. _If I'm not already crazy._

"No," Lucas said aloud, "no. I'm not crazy, or at least, I'm not going to admit it yet." _Think, think._ He and Marshall had searched the whole school and found nothing.

"No…not the whole school." They had not ventured into the basement that afternoon. Lucas jumped up, suddenly hopeful. "Maybe he's still here…" He rushed into the hall and to door that lead to the basement stairs.

Standing in the doorway, Lucas hesitated. The basement was creepy enough in the daytime. Now that it was night, and the whole school was deserted, the basement seemed downright sinister. Still, it was the only place left where he might find answers.

_Please, please be here._

He crept cautiously down the stairs. The light steadily diminished as he went deeper. At the bottom, Lucas felt along the walls for a light switch. His foot bumped an empty metal bucket, and it clattered across the floor. Deeper and deeper he walked into the darkness, finding nothing along the walls.

Something soft and stringy brushed his face. Lucas gasped and jumped back, then felt silly as he realized it was a piece of string and not a cobweb. He pulled and a single bulb came to light, illuminating his surroundings.

The janitor stood directly in front of him. Lucas managed to stifle a surprised shriek.

"I knew it!" he gasped. "I knew you'd be here."

"Where else would I be?" the janitor asked in his usual monotone voice.

"Everyone disappeared," Lucas said. "Please tell me where they went."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do!" Lucas insisted. "You always know. Please tell me where they went and how I can get them back."

"Your friends didn't disappear, Lucas. They're all right where they should be."

Lucas took a step back, confused. "I don't understand."

"You will. But when you do, you'll have to hurry. You won't have much time."  
The janitor nodded to him and vanished into thin air.

Lucas reached forward and touched the area where the janitor had just been, but there was nothing there.

"That didn't help much!" he said disgustedly. "Hello!"

Silence.

Defeated, Lucas made his way back to the bottom of the stairs. He sat down and placed his elbows on his knees and head in his hands.

_Think._ His brain had always been his strongest asset and his best weapon. It was all he had left now.

In scientific investigation, Professor Zachary had always challenged his students to look at problems from every angle. Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way. The janitor said his friends were right where they should be, that they didn't disappear. But that couldn't be right. They weren't here in the school with him. Or were they?

_If they're in the right place…maybe I'M in the wrong place._ Lucas's eyes grew wide as realization struck.

"_Maybe…something is wrong…you know, with you, not us."_

"My friends didn't disappear," Lucas said aloud. "I did."

Lucas swallowed hard and looked around the dark basement. He was not only alone, he was somehow in the wrong…place? dimension? Whatever this place was, there was no one to help him get out of it.

_Stay focused._ How did he get here? It had to be related to the experiment. It was the only non-routine event in the last few days, and everything strange had started happening right after it. The machine was supposed to open the vortex for them. It hadn't worked…had it?

_Maybe it DID work,_ Lucas mused. _Maybe I went through the vortex._ Odd that he hadn't noticed it. But he was still in the school, and that was where the wormhole usually deposited its victims.

_So how do I get back?_

Lucas made his way back up the stairs. He walked down the deserted hallway to the front door of the school and looked out. He could see the glow of the city lights off in the distance.

_This doesn't make sense. If there's no people, why are the lights still on?_ He stepped into the lounge and flipped on the radio. Pop music poured out. _Who's playing the songs if there's no DJ?_

Lucas turned off the radio and walked back to the front door. He looked out at the lights once again. As if in answer to his mental question, the lights from the town began to go out, row by row, as if a dark cloud was slowly passing over them.

Lucas squinted, pulled off his glasses, then put them back on again. The vision held. There _was_ something dark and ominous steadily passing over the landscape. Heading right for the school.

As he watched, the dark shape grew closer and closer. It was hard to distinguish once it got past the lights of town and moved through the darkness of the surrounding land. Finally it reached the boarders of the school. The lights in the courtyard began going out, one by one.

_Not just turning off._ The dark mass was covering the lights and everything else it passed over. It was a solid wall, and Lucas could see nothing beyond it. He had the sudden feeling that, whatever that thing was, he didn't want it reaching him.

Lucas turned to run. At the far end of the hall, he could see the dark shape eating up the walls off the school. In fact, it was all around him, devouring everything. _Whatever this place is, it's shrinking._

Lucas frantically looked around for an escape, but there was none. All of the outside exits had already been devoured. _The wormhole!_ If that was the way he had gotten in here, it must be the way out.

Heart pounding, Lucas ran down the hall to Professor Zachary's office. He burst through the doorway and looked down at the floor. _No…_

There was nothing but black and white floor tiles.

As he stared despondently, the tiles began to warp and change. They formed a round swirl in the middle of the floor. The familiar and welcome sound of rushing wind filled the room.

Lucas glanced behind him. The dark wall was almost to the office door. He turned and dove headfirst into the vortex.

"Aaaaaahhhh"-BAM! In his haste, Lucas had forgotten that feet-first into the vortex works best. He turned a somersault and crashed backside-first into the front of Professor Zachary's desk.

"Lucas!" someone gasped.

"Owww," he moaned. He looked up and saw five blurry shapes gathered over him.

"Lucas, are you OK?" It sounded like Josie but he couldn't see for sure; everything looked blurred. _I must've hit my head really hard._

"Guys, back up and give him some space," Professor Z commanded. "Here, Lucas." Lucas felt his glasses slide onto his face, and his vision cleared. Professor Zachary was kneeling over him, looking concerned. The other Science Club members were still gathered around anxiously.

"You're all here," he mumbled, still dazed.

"YOU'RE here," Marshall replied. "Where did you go?"

"I'm…I'm not sure," Lucas replied. "How long was I gone?"

"Almost 9 hours," Corinne explained. "It's after midnight now."

"We didn't know what to do," Josie said anxiously. "When you didn't come back we were going to go in after you, but we couldn't get the vortex to open. None of us knew how to work your machine."

"The machine…it did work?"

"All too well," Professor Zachary replied. He helped Lucas stand up. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Quietly, Lucas explained the school, the disappearances, and the dark shape. "It was wiping out everything. The whole school was disappearing. The only way out was back through the vortex."

"Weird," Vaughn commented. "Even for this school."

Josie looked worried. "I don't understand why the place was destroyed. Does this mean there's a giant…blob that's going around wiping out other dimensions?"

"Not necessarily," Professor Zachary said. "Lucas, what were you thinking about at the time you went through the vortex?"

"Well, I was thinking about Open Sesame…I was nervous, and then disappointed because I thought it didn't work." Lucas looked guiltily at his friends. "I was mad because I thought everyone was laughing at me."

The others looked guilty as well. "We were kind of impatient," Corinne admitted. "I guess we just didn't think your invention was really going to work."

"You proved us wrong, though," Vaughn said hopefully.

Lucas nodded and smiled half-heartedly. "I kind of wished…" he paused and looked around incredulously as realization struck. "I wished everyone would just disappear!"

"And they did," Professor Z finished. "I think somehow, the thoughts you were thinking and emotions you were feeling just before and during your experiment shaped the reality you were transported to. When you realized what had happened, the illusion in your mind was shattered, so the reality you were in began to collapse."

Lucas looked down. "I'm not sure I totally understand."

Professor Z grinned. "I'm not sure I do, either. But it's pretty late to try to figure it out now. I suggest we all get to bed before Durst catches you all up this late."

* * *

Although he was relieved to be back, being trapped in his own mind had left Lucas feeling unsettled, to say the least. Over the next few nights his sleep was plagued by dreams of being alone, dark shapes devouring everything, and the wormhole whisking his friends away without warning. He was relieved each time morning finally came and the shadows in his room melted away.

"You look awful," Josie commented several days later as Lucas finally joined his friends for breakfast.

"I haven't slept very well," Lucas admitted, taking a bite of cereal.

"Still thinking about your experiment?" Josie asked. Lucas simply nodded, not looking up.

"We were really worried when you didn't come back," Corinne said sympathetically.

"Have you decided what to do with Open Sesame?" Marshall asked.

Lucas nodded thoughtfully. "I think so. Meet me in the courtyard this afternoon and I'll show you."

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this, Lucas?" Professor Zachary asked. He and the Science Club were gathered at the far end of the courtyard, away from the eyes of the other students. "It's a brilliant invention, although it does need further testing."

Lucas looked down at Open Sesame and paused. It had taken him months to build and calibrate. And it had worked. Part of him felt tremendous pride in his invention.

But another part of him had replayed the events of his trip through the vortex over and over before finally coming to a disturbing conclusion.

"Some things are better left alone," Lucas explained to his friends. "I'm not sure the wormhole is something that can be controlled." He didn't voice his true feeling, the one that kept him awake at night. The feeling that the wormhole didn't _want_ to be controlled.

He turned to Vaughn. "May I?" Vaughn handed him a metal baseball bat. Lucas raised it high, then brought it down as hard as he could several times. Open Sesame shattered into pieces.

He turned to his friends and smiled, suddenly feeling much lighter. "Anybody else want to take a shot?"

THE END


End file.
